The Futures of School Reform

A working group on the “Futures of School Reform,” organized by the Harvard Graduate School of Education and led by Robert B. Schwartz and Jal Mehta of Harvard and Frederick M. Hess of the American Enterprise Institute, includes more than a dozen researchers, policymakers, and practitioners from around the country. Education Week is running a seven-part series of Commentary essays expressing visions of members of the “Futures” group. The series, which concludes in the May 25 issue, is accompanied by a blog, written by the group.

In the second essay in this seven-part series on school reform, Robert B. Schwartz, Ben Levin, and Adam Gamoran discuss what our education system would look like if we were to follow the best evidence and experience from abroad.

In the first of a seven-part series on education reform, Jal D. Mehta, Louis M. Gomez, and Anthony S. Bryk write that to educate all students to high levels, we must break the bureaucratic model of schooling.

Organized by the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Futures of School Reform Commentary series and time-limited blog drew a wide range of responses from readers eager to discuss the working groups' visions.